| Welcome to the Boys of 76's History page. Here you will find two articles. The top (First) article is "The History of the Boys of 76" written by George Fennell which appeared in the book The History of Drum and Bugle Corps - Vol. #2. The bottom (Second)article is a letter which appeared in the Racine Shoreline Leader newspaper, date unknown, but it probably appeared sometime in the late 1970’s. The letter was titled, “How The Boys of ‘76 Really Got Started” and was written by George K. Johnson, Post Commander. |
| History of the Boys of 76 Drum and Bugle Corps By George Fennell COPYRIGHT 2004 The Racine, Wisconsin American Legion Post No. 76’s Drum and Bugle Corps, more commonly known as the Boys of 76, trace their roots back to 1916 when the Wisconsin National Guard created new units in anticipation of a war with Mexico. Border violations growing out of the continuing Mexican civil war brought most of the U. S. Army to Texas and Arizona that year. The Wisconsin National Guard, warned of an imminent call to federal service, added to its strength by creating new units, including Racine‘s Battery C of the 1st Wisconsin Field Artillery. The new battery expected to train and then go straight to the border, however, it was never sent because of a lack of field artillery pieces. Almost immediately member’s of Racine’s Battery C started a small drum and bugle corps. They were primarily used in the mounting of guard posts for the army. After the sinking of the British liner Laconia by a German submarine in April of 1917 a second battery for Racine, Battery F of the 1st Wisconsin Field Artillery, was created by the Wisconsin National Guard. Members of both batteries then participated in what became the Battery C & F, 1st Wisconsin National Guard Field Artillery Drum and Bugle Corps. In July, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I, Batteries C and F entrained for the Wisconsin National Guard’s Camp Douglas for training followed by advanced training at Camp MacArthur, near Waco, Texas. Members of Batteries C and F’s drum corps took their drums and bugles with them and enlivened the training period at both Camp Douglas and Camp MacArthur. At the beginning of 1918, Batteries C and F, now of the 121st Artillery Regiment of the 32nd Division, packed up and shipped their drums and bugles back to Racine and they headed to France. Both Racine Batteries sailed on the Leviathan, which needed no convoy since it was swift enough to outrun a submarine. They landed safely first in Britain, then arrived in France in February. The Batteries then took two months of advanced artillery practice at Camp Coetquidan, near the French Town of Guer. Battery F obtained French Howitzers and went on to participate in three major offensives, often fighting for long periods under gas attack. Throughout the war Battery C trained artillery officers and observers behind the front lines in France and never went to the front. After arriving in France in February, the 32nd Division fought from May to November of 1918 - six months with only 10 days of “rest.” They met and battled 23 German Divisions, capturing 2,153 prisoners but at a cost of 14,000 32nd Division casualties. They were the first American Troops on German soil, at Alsace in May 1918, and fought on five different fronts in three major offensives. Soon after the Racine soldiers returned home in May, 1919, from World War I the Battery C & F drum and bugle corps re-organized as the 121st Field Artillery Drum and Bugle Corps. Shortly thereafter, the drum corps then became known as the Racine Veterans of the 32nd Division Association Drum and Bugle Corps. The first appearance for the drum corps after World War I was in the parade of the entire regiment on the day the Racine soldiers came home to Racine on May 20, 1919. After World War I the drum corps practiced regularly and was quite active in local civic and veteran functions. During this time the drum corps gradually grew in size as World War I veterans who had previous experience with other Racine drum and bugle corps such as the Holy Name and Elks drum and bugle corps now were able to become members. Under the very capable leadership of William R. Wadewitz, Fred Maxted and Joseph Oliver, who were among the reorganizers after the war, the Boys of 76 became leading pioneers in drum corps techniques during this era. These three men also were members of Battery C which comprised the original drum and bugle corps. On Monday, August 1, 1921, Corporal William Weiss, the first member of Battery F to be killed in action in World War I, was re-buried with military honors in Racine. Rain did not deter his former buddies from turning out. Over a hundred men were in the procession that escorted his body to Grace Baptist Church. The 32nd Division drum and bugle corps led the procession. Over the years the drum corps would appear at many of the funerals of Racine’s World War I Veterans. Wearing their old doughboy uniforms from the first world war, the drum corps traveled to the first annual 32nd Division convention in Detroit in September of 1921 where the drum corps was awarded first place as the best unit in the parade. In October of 1921 the members of the drum corps voted to turn their equipment over to Racine’s American Legion Post 76 and to become the official drum and bugle corps of Post 76. The name of the 32nd Division continued to be identified on the bass drums since this organization was the place of the drum corps’ origin. In 1922 the businessmen of Racine donated the funds with which to purchase new uniforms to replace their old doughboy uniforms. The new uniforms consisted of white serge army breeches and Canadian officers coats, white overseas caps and black puttees. To reward their faith, the Boys of 76 drum and bugle corps went out and won their first Wisconsin American Legion state convention title in Beloit, WI. A few days later in Madison, WI, they again were named the best drum and bugle corps at the second annual convention of the 32nd Division Association. The Boys of 76 drum and bugle corps did not attend any of the first three annual American Legion national conventions, the first of which was held in Minneapolis in 1919. They did, however, attend the next four, New Orleans in 1922, San Francisco in 1923, St. Paul in 1924 and Omaha in 1925, and won all four of these American Legion National Championships. During this time the Boys of 76 set the pace in music, uniforms, equipment and maneuvers. The Boys of 76 so impressed Legionnaires at the 1922 - 1925 national conventions that many went back home and started drum and bugle corps of their own at American Legion posts throughout the country. The Boys of 76 sparked this drum corps movement that eventually led to hundreds of drum and bugle corps being created at American Legion Posts throughout the country. In 1924 new nickel plated steel helmets replaced the overseas caps that had been worn by the Boys of 76. The helmets themselves were a deep tradition. When the drum corps was reorganized after World War I, the original 32nd Division members had kept their own combat helmets. The corps had them nickel-plated and they were worn on contest fields just as they were in action on the combat fields of France. The helmets were a “living” tribute to the men who fought and died and won World War I. Frederick F. Schulte (1891 - 1966), was performing professionally at sixteen and in 1921 began a long and distinguished career of music education in the Racine public schools. At the same time, he was a participant in almost every one of Racine’s musical organizations. In 1924 he became director of the American Legion’s Boys of 76 Drum and Bugle Corps, introducing non-march music to drum corps competition and leading his group to two national championships. As a member of the Boys of 76 Drum and Bugle Corps, he placed second among the many contestants in the individual drumming contest at the 1925 national American Legion convention in Omaha. In 1927 he became director of the S. C. Johnson & Sons, Inc. band and later conducted a chorus, mixed chorus, and glee club for the Racine manufacturing firm. Frederick Schulte succeeded his father, Henry, as director of the Racine Park Board Band, and from 1932 to 1957 he led the Racine Symphony Orchestra. He was also associated with the Racine Kilties Drum and Bugle Corps, founded in 1935. Until his death in 1966, Frederick Schulte was a vigorous, colorful showman who enjoyed concerts and parades as his father had before him. Frederick F. Schulte Elementary School, a Racine Unified School District School located in the suburb of Sturtevant, was dedicated in 1968. The Boys of 76 continued to attend each national American Legion convention through 1931and remained a contender for the championship throughout most of this time. At the 1926 American Legion national championship in Philadelphia, the announcer stated just prior to the announcement of the finals scores, “Prepare yourself for a surprise.” The surprise was a new national champion and the Boys of 76’s winning streak consecutive national championships was ended at four. The Boys of 76 placed third. In 1927 the American Legion held its national convention in Paris, France. After raising $20,000, including a $5,000 donation from the State of Wisconsin, the 52 members of the Boys of 76 Drum and Bugle Corps left for Paris, France. They went by train to Quebec, Canada. On the way, the train stopped in Montreal on Wednesday, Sept. 7th, where the entire drum corps got into uniform and performed for the first time before an audience outside of the United States. In Quebec the Boys of 76 boarded the S. S. Mont Royal and sailed to Antwerp, Belgium. En route, practice drills were held on the deck as the S. S. Mont Royal was one of the largest ocean going steamers. After arriving in Antwerp, the drum corps put on a performance and then boarded a train for Paris. After a stop in Brussels, Belgium, where the drum corps also performed, the Boys of 76 arrived in Paris dead serious about winning the national championship. That was not to be the case, however, as the Boys of 76 finished in fifth place. Leaving Paris, the Boys of 76 took a train to Cherbourg, France, where they boarded a steamship for Quebec, Canada. A train brought the drum corps from Quebec back to Racine. In 1928 the American Legion national convention was held in San Antonio, Texas where the Boys of 76 finished in 10th place. At the American Legion national convention held in Louisville, Kentucky in 1929, the Boys of 76 placed 15th out of the 118 senior corps that competed there. This was the largest number of senior corps that ever competed at an American Legion national convention. At the Louisville American Legion national convention in 1929, the Harvey W. Seeds Post #29 of Miami, Florida filed a protest against the Boys of 76 claiming that their bugles were illegal. The Miami representatives got Walter E. McDougle, chairman of the trophy & awards committee, out of bed to protest the Boys of 76’s ability to play regular music. But Jack Costello, president of the Boys of 76, had prepared for that. He had already received a ruling from McDougle back on July 15 which stated that the bugles of the Racine Boys of 76 were satisfactory as long as they were not changed in the middle of exhibition pieces. The Boys of 76 were the only drum and bugle corps that was able to play music such as “America” and “Over There”. It was apparent that the Boys of 76 were ahead of their time, but it was expected that by the following summer scores of drum corps would have similar capabilities. After placing 7th in prelims out of 60 competing senior corps at the 1930 American Legion national convention in Boston, the Boys of 76 took second place in finals, just missing the national championship by a mere two tenths of a point. In 1931 the Boys of 76 went over to Detroit, Michigan, for the American Legion national convention and placed first in prelims with a whopping score of 99.10. Again sixty senior corps competed in prelims. However, the Boys of 76 dropped to fourth place in finals. Their 99.10 score is the highest prelim score ever given at an American Legion national championship. The Chicagoland Music Festival, sponsored by the Chicago Tribune, was hailed as the largest such event in the United States. The festival consisted of many separate contests in all musical categories such as bands, chorus, quartets, soloists and, of course, for the first five years, from 1930 - 1934, a senior drum and bugle corps competition was also held. These contests were held a various theaters and parks throughout Chicago, always on the third Friday and Saturday in August. The winners of each category then performed at the awards ceremony held on Saturday night at Soldier’s Field. The significance of the Chicagoland Music Festival’s senior drum and bugle corps contest was not only because of the size of the contest or the caliber of the competing senior corps. It did draw a good number of senior corps from all over the Midwest including many of the Midwest’s various American Legion state champions. The significance was also because this contest was open to all senior drum and bugle corps regardless of their affiliation or sponsorship at a time when this type of contest was probably unheard of. The Boys of 76 competed in the first four senior drum and bugle corps contests at the Chicagoland Music Festival, from 1930 - 1933, and handily won all four contests. They did not attend the fifth and last senior corps contest held there in 1934. After winning the 1930 senior corps contest at the Chicagoland Music Festival, the Boys of 76 performed their winning show in an exhibition at the Awards Ceremony before 150,000 spectators jammed into Soldier’s Field. This set a new attendance record for Soldier’s Field breaking the previous record of 135,000 spectators which saw the Dempsey - Tunney fight there in September of 1929. The Boys of 76 didn’t attend the 1932 American Legion national convention in Portland, Oregon, however they did attend them all from 1933 until 1941 with the following results: 10th place in 1934 at Miami, Florida; 18th place in 1935 at St. Louis, Missouri; 43rd place in 1936 at Cleveland, Ohio; did not compete, only marched in the big parade in 1937 at New York; 13th place in 1938 at Los Angeles, California; 10th place in 1939 at Chicago, Illinois; 14th place in 1940 at Boston, Massachusetts and 8th place in 1941 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Boys of 76 also attended the 1933 American Legion national convention held in Chicago and it was the element of time that shattered their hopes of making finals and a chance at regaining the national title. In the preliminaries the Boys of 76 were penalized two points for exceeding the drill period by a few seconds which reduced their score to 90.81. Without the two point penalty the Boys of 76 would have had a spot in the top 12 to compete in the finals. The Boys of 76 Drum and Bugle Corps President Wilcox stated, “It was a keen disappointment to us to be eliminated from the finals. The convention was a dandy and the drum corps was outstanding in both the parade and the preliminary competition. Time played a big part in our defeat but we are not disheartened. The drum corps will carry on and we will be present in Miami next year.” On Tuesday, July 21st, 1936, The Boys of 76 handily won the D.A.V. National Convention Championship along with the $250 first prize that went with it. This contest was held in Milwaukee's in Juneau Park. In 1941, the Boys of 76 went back to its old white uniforms with the nickel plated helmets and discarded the West Point uniforms that they wore since 1931. On Saturday, 9-13-41, at Racine’s Horlick Athletic Field, the Boys of 76 sponsored their first drum and bugle corps contest. Because the American Legion national convention was to be held from Sept. 15 - 18 in Milwaukee which is just 30 miles north of Racine, the Boys of 76 billed this contest as an American Legion national championship preview. Three senior and three junior corps competed for $1,000 in cash prizes in front of more than 3,000 spectators. The junior drum corps contest was won by the Norman J. Cornwall Squadron #275 of Chicago followed by the Racine Boy Scouts in second and the Alonzo Cudworth Squadron #23 of Milwaukee placed third. The senior drum corps contest was won by Square Post #232 of Chicago followed by the Charles Hagestrom Post of Wisconsin Rapids with the Bendix Aviation Post #284 of South Bend, Indiana, finishing in third place. Although the American Legion national convention and its national championship drum and bugle corps competition were not held from 1942 - 1946 because of World War II, it was still business as usual for the Boys of 76. They continued appearing at local functions and parades throughout the war years. On Thursday, 6-18-42, the Boys of 76 met British and American war heroes at the entrance of Washington Park in Milwaukee and then escorted them to the band shell where a program was carried out. Thousands attended this rally to honor these war heroes who now were on tour. The 45 member Boys of 76 also played a 15 minute concert under the direction of John Opferkuch in the park shell as part of this program. The Boys of 76 did not attend the 1946 American Legion national convention held in San Francisco, California, which was the first one held after World War II. However, in 1947, with the addition of 15 World War II veterans to their ranks (men who served with the Boy Scouts and Kilties), the rejuvenated Racine Boys of 76 Drum and Bugle Corps re-entered state and national competitions at the American Legion conventions for the first time since 1941. At the 1947 American Legion national championship’s preliminary competition held at the Randall’s Island Stadium in Queens, N. Y., the Boys of 76 went on at 9:15 a. m., fifth of the 37 competing corps. They finished in a tie for 13th place with a score of 86.45, therefore, just missing a spot in the finals. The finals included the top eleven corps from prelims plus the previous year’s champion who automatically received a spot. The corps of 64 men still wore its white uniforms, nickel plated helmets, black sam-brown belts, puttees and shoes, the same uniform as adopted back in 1922. Officials in charge were Wilbur Hansen, president and drillmaster; Fred Heinisch, vice-president; Elmer Hillburg, treasurer; Dick Buckley,secretary; Fred P. Helm, business manager; John T. Opferkuch, music instructor and Edward Bezucha, bugle instructor. The Boys of 76 finished in 7th place in finals at the American Legion national convention championship in Miami, Florida in 1948. In 1949 the Boys of 76 stayed home from the Philadelphia American Legion national convention in order to use their funds to purchase new bugles. From 1950 through 1964 the Boys of 76 competed at every American Legion national championship and placed as follows: 3rd place at Los Angeles, California, in 1950; 7th place at Miami, Florida, in 1951; 9th place at New York, New York in 1952; 10th place at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953; 12th place at Washington, D. C., in 1954; 12th place at Miami, Florida, in 1955; 5th place at Los Angeles, California, in 1956; 12th place at Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1957; 13th place at Chicago, Illinois, in 1958; 7th place at Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1959; 6th place at Miami, Florida, in 1960; 2nd place at Denver, Colorado, in 1961; 2nd place at Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1962, 7th place at Miami Beach, Florida, in 1963 and 3rd place at Dallas, Texas, in 1964. The Boys of 76 were the featured “Drum Corps Of The Month” in the June, 1952 issue of Midwest Corps News. They also were the drum corps pictured on the cover of the Midwest Corps News for their April, 1953 issue. On July 5, 1952, the Boys of 76 hosted the Tri State Association’s first drum and bugle corps contest. The Tri State Association was composed of senior American Legion drum and bugle corps within a 100 mile radius of Chicago. Some of the other senior corps involved in this association were Skokie, Ill., Port Washington, WI, La Porte, Ind., and Commonwealth Edison of Chicago. On July 3, 1956 the Boys of 76 made their debut at their own contest at Horlick Field in Racine in new uniforms which consisted of gray trousers with a navy blue stripe down the side, navy blue satin shirt with a white cross-sash, white cummerbund and white sash. The steel helmets were replaced by navy blue shakos with 12 inch white plumes. The whole corps wore white bucks. The uniform shirts, sashes and cummerbunds were made by Mrs. Robert K. Anderson of Racine while the trousers and shakos were manufactured by the Badger Shirt Co. of Racine. The new uniforms marked the end of an era when the corps was solely an American Legion member outfit. The 1956 edition of the drum corps included many new members who had prior experience in one of Racine’s three junior drum and bugle corps, the Boy Scouts, YMCA Kilties or the Armenian Youth Federation. The Boys of 76 for 1956 consisted of 50 playing members and eight in the color guard. Only two of the playing members were members of American Legion Post No. 76. In 1956, nine Racine men and 20 in the state of Wisconsin were judges who belonged to the All-American Association of Contest Judges. The concentration of judges in Racine was not surprising since this city has long been a stronghold of drum corps activity. Although there were several small judges associations, the only national group at this time was the All-American Association of Contest Judges. The nine Racine judges were: Dr. Ralph C. Pierce, who also is the state’s chief judge, Frederick Schulte, John Opferkuch, James Rome, Wallace J. Nelson, James McCreadie, Christopher R. Prentice, Fred Heinisch and Arthur L. McCallum. All nine of these Racine judges were involved with the Boys of 76 at one time or another as member and/or an instructor. While representing the Racine Catholic War Veterans Post 1792, the Boys of 76 won the Catholic War Veterans national convention championship held at Marquette University’s Stadium in Milwaukee on August 16, 1957. Rain interrupted the contest twice and the Boys of 76 did not take the field until nearly midnight. This was an open contest, so the Boys of 76 had to not only compete against senior corps, but also compete against junior corps, including the Kilties, Racine Boy Scouts, Milwaukee Militaires, etc., to win this title. The Boys of 76 were the drum corps on the cover of the May - June, 1962, issue of Badgerland Corps Life magazine. This issue also featured an article on the Boys of 76 on page 4. This article stated that for 1962 the Boys of 76 would play “Band of America March”, “Georgia”, “Dancing in the Dark”, “March of the New World Symphony”, “If I Loved You”, “Old Devil Moon” and “Bye Bye Blues” all arranged by their musical director Jerry Harris. Jan Krueger was the drillmaster. New red, white and blue uniforms patterned after those worn by officers of General George Washington were worn by the Boys of 76 for the first time in 1962. On about 6-10-62, the Boys of 76 made their debut in Canadian competition in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 15,000 at the 4th Annual “International Pageant” sponsored by the Hamilton, Ontario, Viscounts. The Guelp, Ontario, Royalaires won the contest by over 10 points over the second place Hamburg, N.Y., Kingsmen. The Royalaires swept all the caption awards. On Sunday, September 5, 1965, the first Midwest Senior Association championship was held in Racine. Seven senior corps competed out of the thirteen senior corps that were members of this Association. The Boys of 76 placed third behind the second place Kenosha, WI, Kingsmen and the winner, the Maumee, Ohio, Demons. In 1967 the Boys of 76 were inducted into the International Drum Corps Hall of Fame joining five other senior corps, five junior corps and six individuals. On July 3rd, 1967, at the Boys of 76’s annual contest in Racine, WI, they were presented their plaque before 5,000 people by Larry Grabowski, President of the International Drum Corps Hall of Fame. For 1968 the Boys of 76 marched 56 members which was on the small side when compared to the national championship contending senior corps of this era. Their break down is 29 horns, 11 percussion, 9 working flags, 5 in the American section , a C. O. and a drum major. Over 50% of the corps’ members were now from Milwaukee. The Boys of 76 were still a true senior corps, however, and admitted no one under 21 years of age. Up to now there has been no mention of how the Boys of 76 did in the Wisconsin State American Legion convention competitions. That’s because the Boys of 76 had attended all but six of the Wisconsin State American Legion convention competitions from 1922 through 1964 and they had never been defeated. However, at the 1965 Wisconsin State American Legion championship held at Waukesha, the Boys of 76’s 42 year streak of being undefeated was ended when they fell to the Kenosha Kingsmen and finished in second place. In 1966 the Boys of 76 regained their Wisconsin State American Legion convention title in Eau Claire by decisively defeating the Kenosha Kingsmen, but the Boys of 76 lost their title for the second time in three years when the Kenosha Kingsmen defeated them in 1967 at the American Legion state convention in Madison. 1968 saw the Kenosha Kingsmen successfully defend their title at the Wisconsin American Legion state convention in Appleton and for the third time in four years the Boys of 76 finished in second place. Finally, at the 1969 American Legion state contest held in Milwaukee County Stadium, the Boys of 76 defeated the two-time defending champion Kenosha Kingsmen to win back the title. The 1970 Wisconsin State American Legion contest was rained out, but in 1971 the Boys of 76 won yet another Wisconsin State American Legion title in Wausau. The Boys of 76 would never lose another Wisconsin State American Legion title as it was now the only competing senior corps left in Wisconsin. The Boys of 76 fielded excellent corps in both 1970 and 1971. In 1971 the Boys of 76 retained “Finiculi” as their opener followed by a new color presentation, the “Theme From Patton.” Concert number is unknown. An expanded version of the production number “Laia Ladaia” started the second half of their drill. The exit number “Thanks For The Memories”, featuring John Steinke’s Baritone solo, and the ending fanfare “The Party’s Over” closed out a truly memorable show. Jack Sweetman, the business manager of the Boys of 76 for many years had to resign at the end of the 1970 season because of ill health. His job was taken over by no less than three people. Jair and Barbara Harris were appointed co-business manager and Ed Porcoro assumed the responsibility of running the Corps’ chief money- maker, the 3rd of July contest. Jair Harris still retained his position as Music Director and Ed Porcoro also remained secretary of the Corps in addition to their new positions with the Boys of 76. At the beginning of November, 1970, the very capable President of the Boys of 76, Dave Anderson, also resigned. A special election was held November 23, 1970, and Frank Most was chosen by the Corps to take this post. Despite these rather drastic changes in administration, the morale and enthusiasm of the Corps’ members never lagged and the Boys of 76 looked forward to possibly their best season ever. On July 10, 1971, the Boys of 76 competed in prelims at the North American Championship held in Milwaukee, WI. The Boys of 76 were the only senior corps competing against a strong line up of junior corps. The Boys of 76 finished in a very respectable 17th place. For the 1972 drum corps season Al Guerrera became Corps Coordinator for the Boys of 76, something the corps has never had. Gone after thirteen years was Music Director Jerry Harris who was replaced by John Steinke. The Boys of 76, however, were only a parade corps in 1972 with the exception of competing at the American Legion State Championship in Green Bay, WI. They also hosted their July 3rd show plus the August 19th senior corps show. Also, according to the Boys of 76 web site, 1972 was the first year that they allowed females into the corps, but only into the color guard. The Boys of 76 appeared on the cover of the November, 1973 issue of Drum Corps America, however, there was no article about them in the magazine. In 1975 the Boys of 76 changed their name to the Spirit of 76 to better reflect that females were now in all sections of the corps. Also for 1975 the Spirit of 76 sported new red, white and blue uniforms with navy blue three-corner hats. On September 29, 1975 the Spirit of 76 presented Maynard Ferguson in concert at Racine’s Prairie School Field House as a fundraiser for the corps. Maynard Ferguson is an outstanding trumpet player with incredible range. His music such as “MacArthur’s Park” and “Eli’s Coming” was arranged and played by many drum and bugle corps in the 70’s. For 1976 the Spirit of 76 added new accents to their uniforms such as stripes down the outside of the pant leg, new sash with a dangling tassel, big silver buckles and a 76 medallion and plume on their hats. After 1964, the Boys of 76 would attend only four more national American Legion convention championships. In 1968, the Boys of 76 finished in 2nd place at New Orleans, LA; In 1969, the Boys of 76 placed 4th at Atlanta, Georgia; In 1975, the Spirit of 76 also finished in 4th place at Minneapolis, Minnesota and in 1977, the Spirit of 76 took first place at Denver, CO, winning their fifth and last American Legion national championship. The American Legion discontinued their junior and senior drum and bugle corps national convention competitions following the 1980 national convention in Houston, Texas. Drum Corps Associates, better known as DCA, held their first championship in 1965. The Boys of 76 first attended a DCA championship in 1970 at Rochester, New York, and finished in 9th place in finals. Thus the Boys of 76 became the first Midwest senior corps to make finals. The Boys of 76 would not be as successful at future DCA championships as they never would make finals again. In 1971 the Boys of 76 took 16th place and then didn’t attend another DCA championship until 1974 where they finished in 14th place. In 1975 the Spirit of 76 went out East to the DCA championship with its best corps in many years only to finish a disappointing 11th. Only the top ten made finals in 1975. The next year, 1976, the Spirit of 76 finished in 17th place and then didn’t attend another DCA championship until 1981 where they placed 14th. In 1982 the Spirit of 76 finished in 14th place again. After not attending the DCA championship in 1983, in 1984 the Spirit of 76 competed at its last DCA championship and took 17th place. The Drum Corps Midwest (DCM) Championships were first held in 1978 however a senior corps championship wasn’ t added until 1981. The Spirit of 76 placed second in the senior corps division of the DCM Championships in 1981, 1982, 1984, and 1985, each time losing to the Minnesota Brass from St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1983 it was a different story as the Spirit of 76 won their last major title by winning the senior corps championship at DCM. The Spirit of 76’s last year as a competing senior corps was 1985. After that, they continued on as a small parade corps for a number of years until they ended operations completely sometime around 1993. |
| HOW THE BOYS OF 76 REALLY GOT STARTED SOURCE: This letter appeared in the Shoreline Leader newspaper, date unknown, but it probably appeared sometime in the late 1970’s. The letter was titled, “How The Boys of ‘76 Really Got Started” and was written by George K. Johnson, Post Commander. To correct any wrong impression which may have been created in reading the caption in connection with the photo of the Holy Name Society Drum Corps in the March 10th issue of the Shoreline Leader, the “Boys of 76 Drum and Bugle Corps” did not evolve out of the Holy Name Society Drum Corps as was implied in the caption. The Boys of 76 Drum and Bugle Corps grew out of a corps that originated in 1916 within Battery C which was a local unit of the First Wisconsin Field Artillery. In 1917, after the United States had entered the war, Battery F was organized and members of these two Batteries were members of the corps and it was known as, Batteries C and F Drum and Bugle Corps. Upon our return from France in 1919, the corps was identified as the 121st Field Artillery Drum and Bugle Corps and was one of the units in the parade of the entire regiment on the day we came home to Racine, May 20, 1919. The corps then became known as the “Racine Veterans 32nd Division Association Drum and Bugle Corps.” The activity of the unit was quite limited but in 1921 we were rehearsing for our appearance at the convention of the 32nd Division in Detroit in September. At that time some of the young lads of the Holy Name Corps came in and became members of the corps. At the Detroit convention the corps was awarded first place as the best unit in the parade. In October of 1921, the members of the corps voted to turn the equipment over to Post 76 of the American Legion and to become the official drum and bugle corps of the Post. The name of the 32nd Division continued to be identified on the Bass Drum since this organization was the place of it’s origin. After it became a Legion unit, it’s fame began to grow and it became National Champions for four successive years. It was state champion for many years. The highlight of Legion Conventions was in Paris, France, in 1927 when the corps marched in the parade and entered drum corps competition on the “Champ de Mars”. After World War II, many young veterans became members of Post 310 of the American Legion and then qualified to become members of the Boys of 76 Corps. Several of the men had been former members of the Kilties and Racine Scout Drum and Bugle Corps before going into the service. With the entry of this new young group in to the corps, Post 76 continued to sponsor the organization in its many and varied appearances for several years. In 1974, Post 76 turned all the equipment over to Post 310 for their use and continuance of the corps. The corps is now known as the Spirit of 76 Drum and Bugle Corps. |